Tikkun Olam Team Member Highlight - Andrew Vun
Who the “I Am” has made me to be
My name is Andrew Vun. I am from Malaysia and I moved to the United States back in 2013 for university and have been here ever since. For most of my life I have been continually searching for the purpose God has for me. The environment I am called to has continually changed but my purpose, as far as I know it to be, is to just be present and show love and kindness to all around me. I came to the United States to study psychology. God has blessed me greatly with many great experiences and friendships in my time here. As the Potter of my life He has shaped me since my birth with a heart for people and a natural ability and curiosity for understanding them. Life as usual comes with ups and downs and while I personally may have felt alone through a lot of the downs, I am forever grateful that my loving Creator never abandoned me. He kept me alive and well through the darkest of times and brought me to this present day ready again to continue the journey He has set before me.
How I came to be in Wolf Point
In my time as a college student, God led me to choose to further my studies into School Psychology in graduate school. Last year during my internship as a school psychologist I was searching for the environment and community that God wanted me to work in. In my search for God’s purpose for me I have prayed and strived to make myself available and open to wherever He would lead me. Through God’s guidance I have found myself in Wolf Point, Montana. Until He steers me to the next location to call home, I will remain here and be available to the opportunities and call that He has planned for me.
Observations & Realizations in my time here
As someone who knew very little about the American people before I moved here, I’ll just say that I knew next to nothing about the Native American people except what is portrayed about them and their culture in popular media which isn’t the best or clearest representation. What most people outside of the United States think about the Native American people is what you’d expect from Wild West times. They do not realize the depth of how their culture and environment has changed. Coming here knowing little to nothing, I was prepared to take it all in and learn as much as I could by living among the people here. I am no expert and I still have much to learn about the people here, but here is some of what I have observed and realized in my time here. The people here are passionate, in terms of family, sports, or whatever drives them in life. In some way or another they are all still hurting from the past wrongs that they have experienced as a people. Whether a person appears to have their life together or is still in the process of figuring it out, the past wrongs that they or their forebears have experienced impacts their present life in one way or another.
While there may be physical aspects of repair or healing that an organization or person can do, I do not really believe that it will bring about true healing or change without God. No matter how much love or money you give, only God can heal the wounds and fill the holes left behind from past mistakes done or done to the people of this community. By the way, this is true for all people of any culture and not just for the Native American people. I do not believe that I am some kind of miracle worker or wizard who can magically fix things here because of my presence. However, my endeavor is that God’s love will be present to see in my life and work. He is the only true remedy for life, and His Son is the only way to eternal life. This has to constantly be at the forefront of my mind to remind me daily that it is not my works that make a true impact, but I am just a tool in God’s Hand. What that means for me is that I am to do what He calls me to do no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient.
My Role & Involvements
I am the School Psychologist for the Wolf Point School District. What I do for the schools is aid in the Special Education assessment process as well as support teachers and students in behavior and academic interventions in and out of the classroom. My personal approach to my job is to be as involved with the support of any student, teacher, or staff that I come across, limited only by the time in the day and my own abilities. There is no task I won’t do and no person I won’t work with. I am also the Northside School Student Council Advisor. This involves a lot of attempts at increasing the positivity of a student’s daily school life. I have created a token system in which the students can earn points from their teachers and spend them at a school store where they can buy toys, stationary, or food without the use of real money. I also lead a Tabletop Role Playing Club at the High School and Junior High, where I lead the students in a narrative story telling game in which they are the characters of a story and they determine how they interact with the world and the impact they have in it. I also support my fellow Tikkun Olam members as best as I can in their different activities, like helping with the Kind Kitchen cooking class led by Abigail Ponce-Curl. I have also become involved with Gospel Fellowship Church and I help them with their sermon recordings on Sunday and also assist their youth programs.
My Goal
My goal has not really changed throughout my life. That goal is to continue to shine God’s Light through love and kindness in my daily life, and through that Light let others know the way to have that Light in their life if they so wish. Whether it be through smiles, words, or deeds, I seek to repeatedly show God’s Love to everyone I come across. This is ultimately the purpose that I have discovered as God’s call in my life, and I can only do this through God’s empowerment.
My Prayer
(You are welcome to join me)
● That God will continue to bless and strengthen His Saints here to show His Love and spread the Gospel to those who have yet to accept it.
● That God will heal the broken hearts and lives of all the people here, and that they may discover His Love for themselves and accept it in their hearts.
● That God will influence those in leadership of the community to be wise, just, and righteous in their decisions for the reservation and people of this place.
● May more of the Native American people come to know Him and then passionately serve Him by spreading His Word and Love to their fellow people and to the rest of the world.
● May more of those called to serve the Native American people heed their Potter’s call and humbly serve their purpose as He intends.
In the Lord Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
